Torah Cafe

Medicine has always been a very Jewish profession. Some of our most famous Jewish leaders were also doctors such as Maimonides. A talk about Judaism's view of medicine and the history of it's practice in the Jewish community.

For thousands of years, Jewish men have worn Tefillin, black leather boxes and straps when they pray on a weekday as prescribed four times in the Torah. What exactly are these Tefillin? How are they made? Why do we wear them? And why are they not usually worn by women?

A fascinating discussion about the Tefillin, their significance and a demonstration of how they are made.

Pronouncing God's name can be confusing. Sometimes we say Hashem sometimes we switch his name, sometimes we mispronounce it. Writing God can also be confusing. Many write G-d or misspell his names. Why is God's name so confusing?

Learn about God's different names and why we often avoid writing or pronouncing them correctly

We have always been called 'the People of the book'. Throughout history, Jews have always have a love affair with books, building and retaining large libraries, printing and distributing large numbers of books even a personal library in every Jewish home.

TLearn about the history of Jewish books and how our people became so obsessed with the printed (or written) word.

Our people have gone through many ups and downs over our very long history. At times we were threatened by people who hated us and sought to destroy us. Today though, the main threat to our survival comes from Jews blending into society and losing their Jewish identity.

What is the key to Jewish survival? How can we ensure our people will continue to thrive despite the lure of assimilation? How can we best make sure the next generation will continue the legacy and tradition of our ancestors to keep our nation alive?

For much of history people wondered if there were extraterrestrial beings living on other planets. Our imagination has dreamed of what these creatures might look like and how they might live. In recent times we've spent billions of dollars searching for these extraterrestrial beings.

What does Judaism say about Aliens? Could they exist? Do they exist? Should we spend time and money looking for them? If they do exist, are they intelligent? Could they be Jewish?

One of the most fascinating and challenging personalities in Tanach (Scripture) is Job, the successful and happy G-d fearing man who had many tragedies happen to him and then wonder why G-d was making him suffer. Job and his friends had deep discussions trying to understand what was happening to him.

Learn about the story of Job and the fascinating philosophical discussions he had about why good people suffer.

Jews have always been a very clean people. We were so hygienic that when plague struck our gentile neighbors, we were often spared the worst of it. This led to us being blamed for the plague as happened when Black Death struck Europe in the 14th Century. Where did the Jewish value of cleanliness come from long before society around us had any concept of proper hygiene?

A fascinating discussion about Jewish hygiene long before we had any understanding of bacteria viruses or modern biology.

Jews started as a people with the Exodus from Egypt and entering the Promised Land. Where did we come from before that? The Torah tells of our ancestors Abraham & Sarah were Hebrews but where did they come from? Who were the original Hebrews and where did their Hebrew language come from?

A fascinating discussion about the origins of the Jewish people and where our ancestors came from.

The Jewish people are generally split between Ashkenazi and Sephardi communities who have various customs, foods and cultures. When and how did the two groups split?  What are the differences between the two groups? What about Jewish communities that do not fit into either group?

Learn about the history of the Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jewish communities.